The Dumping Ground Kids
by Seahorse8
Summary: What happened in the five years between the story of tracy beaker and tracy beaker returns? When did the old characters leave, and the new ones come, and what did they get up to together? In this series I'll fill in the gaps, with a few chapters for each year. Enjoy!
1. Series 1: Episode 1: A new beginning

**I'm starting from the point where series 5 of The Story of Tracy Beaker left off - with the new girl just arriving. I've decided to call her Katie, and this episode takes place a few weeks after her arrival, and Frank is about to join the dumping ground. **

* * *

"Since Tracy's gone, it seems like everyone's leaving," commented Layla to Roxy as they got the barbeque ready. They were about to have a joint leaving party for Tracy, Justine and Jackie. Tracy was going to live with Cam and Gary, Justine had finally agreed to give her dad another chance, and Jackie was going back to boarding school.

"Weird about Jackie, isn't it?" Layla added. "I thought she hated it at school."

"Yeah, well, why'd she want to stay here?" Roxy pointed out. "All her friends have gone. Tracy, Lol, Justine..."

"What about Crash? He's still here."

"Yeah, but not for long, I bet. Now his dad's out of prison. He'll probably go to live with him."

"You think?" Layla asked.

"Well, anything's better than this dump, right? I mean, everyone's left now, anyway."

Thinking about it, Layla realised Roxy was right. The three girls leaving today, Lol, Bouncer, Milly and Marco, her own best friend Hayley... and with a shock she realised that, except for Crash, she'd be the person who'd been there longest. Only Layla, Alice, Roxy, Rio, Crash, Rebecca, Wolfie and Katie were there now, and eight really wasn't many. Things were definitely changing.

"Uh oh, here comes trouble," muttered Roxy.

"Look who's talking!" came Katie's loud voice. "You're the one who's _always _in up to something. Thinking you're tougher than everyone else! Well you're not."

"You'll regret saying that!"

"Yeah, right! You will!"

Layla sighed. Ever since Katie arrived she and Roxy had been arguing non-stop. It was getting annoying.

"Shut up!" she broke in to the argument. "What do you want, Katie?"

"Oh, Mike wants to see you."

"He does?" Layla went off, wondering what he wanted. When she got to the office, Jackie was there too.

"Do you have any idea what this is about?" Layla asked her.

"None." Jackie shrugged. "But we can't be in trouble, right?"

Just then, Mike called them in.

"The reason I want to see you," he said, "Is because we're going to have a new boy called Frank coming soon who I want you two to keep a special eye on."

"Why?"

"Well, like Layla, he has cerebral palsy, and like Jackie, he's joining us because his grandfather is too old to look after him. So I thought you two would understand him better."

"But I'm leaving soon." Jackie objected.

"I know, but he's coming next week, so you'll still be there to settle him in. He's ten, the same age as you, Layla."

"Um, ok. We'll try to help." Jackie said. Layla nodded in agreement. They both remembered how they'd felt when they were new, and were curious to find out what he'd be like. They went into the garden to tell the others.

"Great. Another weirdo. Just what this place needs," said Roxy, like she always did.

"He don't sound that weird," objected Katie. "Mind you, they'd put anyone in this dump,"

"Yeah, like you," said Rebecca. She didn't think much of Katie, and she wasn't the only one. Katie retorted by hitting her with her handbag.

"See what I mean?" Rebecca whined as Elaine and Alice skipped in.

"Three people finally finding their happy endings!" gushed Elaine. "Isn't this lovely!"

"I know!" sang Alice. "And two new beginnings. Isn't this place just teeming with positive vibes?"

"Maybe not," said Elaine sadly as she noticed the dirty looks everyone was giving them.

"Oh, I'm sure they're all fine," Alice said. "Their auras just need cleansing!"  
"It's not your aura that'll be getting cleansed if you don't shut up!" growled Roxy. Alice just grinned at her.

Layla sighed. How could any new person possibly survive in this madhouse?

Her thoughts were further confirmed when Wolfie and Rebecca ran out, arguing. Why was it that people around here always argued?

"I only borrowed twenty pounds!" Rebecca was yelling. "You've got so much money from your rich parents, I didn't think you'd notice!"

"Well I did! I can't believe you actually went into my room and stole money!"

"Borrowed!"

"Yeah, without asking. And were you planning to give it back?"

"No, but-"

"Exactly!"

"Well, some of us don't have much-"

"Which doesn't give them the right to steal it off people who have!"

"So what were you planning to buy, then? Some new brand of make up that you just had to have?"

"Yeah, like that would make her look any better!" sniped Justine, as she passed by. "I'm so glad I've left here. Otherwise it's my stuff that you'd have taken!"

Rio listened to them arguing in surprise. Not about the arguing - that was nothing new - but at Rebecca stealing. Now that wasn't like her. She was always taking stuff from people like Justine to be spiteful, but she never owned up. And Wolfie? There was no reason for Rebecca to have a grudge against him. So she'd obviously taken the money because she really needed it for something. But what?

"Stop daydreaming and help me set up the barbeque!" His sister Roxy interrupted his thoughts. She wouldn't usually be so helpful, she wanted to stay in Mike's good books so they could visit Chantal, there older sister, that weekend. Rio made a mental note to see what he could find out about Rebecca and got on with the barbeque.

"Hurry up, everyone!" Elaine yelled. "Tracy will be here in a minute! Why hasn't Bouncer arrived yet?"

"He's giving Tracy a lift," said Crash.

"What? But he's meant to be helping set up the party - Katie, no!"

Katie had grabbed a hold of the table cloth, knocking down everything on it, and was running away from a furious Roxy. Elaine tore after them, not even bothering to find out the cause of the argument.

In the chaos, only Rio noticed Rebecca sneaking off. He looked around him. Everyone was distracted. For once, he decided to do something productive and followed her. Roxy would have been proud of him if she hadn't been too busy chasing Katie to notice.

In the middle of it, Mike came into the garden, looking stressed.

"I just got a call from Rob," he said. "Frank's arriving today. We got the date wrong."

"WHAT?" Elaine yelped. "But nothing's ready! And we're having the party. It really isn't convenient."

"I know," said Mike. "He'll be here in half an hour."

"I could kill Rob!" snarled Elaine. "What are we going to do?"

Mike sighed. The two social workers had never seen eye to eye and he couldn't risk them fighting in front of the kids.

"Look, Elaine," he said, "Why don't you start getting Milly's old room ready. It's the tidiest. I'm sure some of the kids will help you. Crash or Rebecca... where is Rebecca? - Never mind. Katie, you'll help, won't you?"

"No chance!" said Katie swiftly, then went back to fighting Roxy.

"Now now, Katie -"

"No way am I doing chores that have nothing whatsoever to do with me! I hate this place!"

Mike sighed. "Crash?"

"My three best friends are leaving, so I'd rather help with the party."

* * *

"Fine," Mike sighed. "Layla? Jackie?"

"I thought you told us to help this Frank kid settle in," said Jackie.

"Wolfie?"

"In his room, plotting revenge on Becky," said Justine. "I think I'll go join him, actually."

"Rio? Where _is_ Rio? Never mind. Roxy?"

"Piss off," said Roxy in a bored voice, and got on with the barbecue.

"Hey, guys!" beamed Tracy, coming over. "Um, I thought we were having a party."

"So did I," muttered Mike.

"Oh, buy the way, Rob is in the lounge, having a fight with Elaine. There's a new kid with him." said Bouncer. The kids giggled, and ran over to watch.

"Aaaaarrrrrggghhhh!" Mike groaned. "Alice, you do something about Frank's room! Tracy, help her! Bouncer, get the barbecue ready! What's left of it, anyway." Then he tore off after Elaine.

"Fine." said Tracy. "Seeing as we're apparently his slaves, I suppose we'd better get to work. This party really needs saving."

* * *

Meanwhile, Rio was following Rebecca. It was kind of hard to be discreet, but he'd grabbed Mike's coat on the way to make himself less recognisable, and so far, Rebecca hadn't noticed him. But he still had no idea what she was up to. She wasn't heading into town, as he'd first suspected, and seemed to be heading for the council estates. Maybe she had a boyfriend there? Confused, he followed her on until he noticed her going down a drive. Hurriedly, he hid behind a bush as she rang the doorbell.

"Hello?" he heard the person answering the door say – though he couldn't see who it was. "Oh, Rebecca! Hi! Did you bring it?" Rebecca nodded, and went inside.

Rio didn't know what to do now, so he got out his knew phone and texted Roxy to tell her what he new, along with the address of the house Rebecca had gone into.

* * *

"EEEllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeee!" yelled Mike. "STOP FIGHTING AND SORT FRANK'S ROOM!"

Roxy and Katie watched gleefully, in between giving each other the evil eye. Roxy couldn't help admiring Katie, though she drove her mad. But maybe she could train her up, get her round to her way of thinking. She could do with an evil sidekick. Rio wasn't exactly much use.

At that moment, her phone beeped as she got Rio's text. She looked around her. Everyone was distracted by the fight,while Jackie and Layla fussed over Frank, who was looking mutinous. Probably not as shy as he looked, Roxy thought. Not one bit. She smiled slyly, and left the house.

Frank broke free from Jackie and Layla's clutches and looked around him. He wondered if he'd like it here. The girls looked a bit wet, but maybe there'd be some boys he could play football with. And everyone seemed pretty mad. He was sure he'd have some fun here. Once he'd given Jackie, Layla, Alice and Elaine the slip, anyway.

At that moment, he noticed Roxy sneaking off. He decided to follow her, partly to find out what she was up to, partly to get out of this crazy place, and partly for some fun.

Getting out was easy. Everyone was still busy, and only Katie noticed him. Quietly, she followed some distance behind him. This would be fun, she thought.

* * *

In the garden, Tracy and Bouncer were hurriedly trying to get the party ready.

"Argh!" Tracy growled as she spilt the marshmallows all over the ground. "I never knew a party could be this much trouble!"

"Relax!" said Bouncer. "You can was them."

"Ugh!" Tracy wrinkled her nose. "Wasn't your brother meant to come and help?"

"He was actually. I wonder where he's got to." Bouncer shrugged, and went back to cooking sausages.

* * *

Lol strolled over. To be honest, he was kind of bored of endless leaving parties, but Tracy, Jackie and Justine were all good friends of his. Besides, he hadn't seen Wolfie in ages. He was about to go in when he noticed a small girl leaving.

"Who are you?" he called.

"Katie. Who are _you_?"

"Oh, nobody. I only used to _live _here." he said crossly. "My brother is the cook here. And I thought there was supposed to be a leaving party."

"There is. It's chaos."

"So where are you going?"

She shrugged. "Come with me and see for yourself." So he did.

Justine sighed. Elaine and Rob were still fighting and it was getting boring. She was glad she was leaving soon. Suddenly, something caught her eye. Roxy's phone? Why had she left it lying about? Curious, Justine picked it up. She read Rio's text, and grinned, then took the phone up to Wolfie. She knew he'd be game for any means of getting his own back on Rebecca.

Five minutes later, they set off for the address. Alice watched from the window of Frank's new room. She shrugged, and went back to preparing the bed.

* * *

Much later that day, Elaine and Rob stopped arguing, and Rob left. The first thing Mike noticed was how quiet it was. He supposed everyone had gone into the garden.

But at that moment, Tracy and Bouncer came in from the garden. "It's ready!" they called. "Where is everyone?"

"I thought they were with you," said Mike. They shook their heads. "So where are they? No way!" he gasped. We've lost the new boy! And also Roxy, Rio, Katie, Rebecca, Lol, Crash, Wolfie and Justine! Where the hell are they?"

"MIKE! How could you lose them?" yelled Elaine.

"Me!? It's your fault!" Jackie and Layla sighed and decided to look for Frank. Poor kid, they thought. He must be feeling terrible! As they left the house, they could just see the faint outlines of Wolfie and Justine in the distance. They ran after them.

Later, Elaine and Mike noticed that nobody was left.

"Mike!" screamed Elaine. "How could you be so foolish?"

"Me?" yelped Mike. Tracy and Bouncer groaned as they argued again. This had been funny at first, but now it was getting seriously annoying.

"I know where they are!" said a silky voice. They all looked up in surprise...

* * *

"There you are!" said Rio as Roxy came up. " Finally – what?"

"I followed you," said Frank, apologetically.

"Do you know what happens to people who spy on us?" said Roxy threateningly, even though Frank was taller than her.

"Ah, Rio and Roxy, up to something as usual." came a voice. They all looked round at Lol, who was grinning broadly, while Katie grinned sheepishly beside him.

"Hi, Wolfie!" said Lol suddenly. "I haven't seen you for ages!"

"Roxy!" growled Rio. "Well done, you've only brought the whole dumping ground here!"

"Yours, I believe," said Justine, passing Roxy her phone. "Now where's Bex?"

"Come on!" said Roxy. "It's not my fault! And not everyone's here – Layla, Jackie – oops, my mistake, here they are -" as they came and started annoying Frank again " -, "Crash, Alice..."

"So here we all are," said Katie. "Cool. So what happens now?"

"We wait – _quietly_ – for Rebecca to come out," said Rio.

So they did.

* * *

"I saw them," said Alice. "Leaving the house. All at different times."

"And you didn't think to mention it?" growled Mike.

" No." said Alice innocently.

* * *

That was about the moment when Rebecca left the house, looked up, and saw the entire contents of the dumping ground waving back at her.

"Oh, for heavens sake!" she yelled. "Look, guys, it's my baby sister. It's her birthday, and I wanted to see her. That's why I stole the money. To buy her a present. She lives with my aunt now. But I didn't want anyone to know, not even my aunt, otherwise we'd have to sort it with social workers and everything... but it's too late now."

At that moment Mike came up. "Oh, why don't you just join the party!" he said. "There's two social workers there, and you can bring your aunt and sister... why not. None of us have done particularly well today, so let's just have fun. Sorry about this, Frank – but I see you've made some friends anyway. Come on, guys, let's party!"

Everyone was in a crazy mood, so they all just went home, and had fun. It wasn't till later that they realised that one person was still missing.

"Where's Crash?" Layla asked some time that afternoon.

Mike groaned...

* * *

**Find out what Crash got up to in the next episode! And remember to review and tell me what you think, who you want to leave or arrive next. I'll be doing maybe five chapters for each year, though I won't be able to update till Sunday. Bye!  
**


	2. Series 1: Episode 2: Pocket Money

**Thanks to the people who reviewed the first chapter! In this episode I'll be bringing in Nikki from series 2 ep10 of The Dumping Ground, because in "GI Johnny", she told Johnny they'd had quite a few people from his care home joining the army before.  
**

* * *

Crash walked down the street, trying to let off steam. Nobody had noticed him slip out of the house, and he'd felt he had to get away. He just couldn't face this leaving party. He'd experienced thousands of them before, but he'd never really cared - till now. But this time it was his two best friends and his sort -of-girlfriend who were leaving, all three at the same time. And that hurt. It really hurt. Now it was just him who was still stuck at the dumping ground, just him on his own. He kicked a stone in front of him angrily, though now he was getting able to control his temper. Maybe cos his dad was back on the scene. But it wasn't just that. It was that he'd changed. And it was time for him, too, to move on. He just needed to work out how.

* * *

"Mike?" asked Katie.

"What?" he said, annoyed. The leaving party had ended, and everyone was outside, clearing up the mess. He'd managed to get rid of Elaine by getting her to supervise Rebecca and her sister at their aunt's house, which left Rob to help Frank settle in, while he tried to get hold of Crash to find out where he was. He wasn't too worried, though. Crash was old enough to look after himself. Still, it was annoying.

"Layla's room looks lovely."

"Good for her."

"So does Rio's. And everyone else."

"And why are you telling this to me...?"

"Well, I was wondering ... can I decorate my room? Cos, you know, I want to be an interior designer when I leave school, and I've got loads of ideas, and at the moment my room's all grey..."

"That sounds like a great idea." said Mike. "But I'm kind of busy at the moment. Why don't you discuss it with Elaine?"

"She's with Rebecca."

"Well, why don't you ask her when she gets back," he said, already busy with something else. Normally, at that point Katie would have told him to forget it, but she did want her room decorated. So she said, "I'll do that," then left to look up designs on the computer.

When she got to the living room, Layla was already on it, though.

"I thought you were tidying up outside," Katie said, annoyed.

"Well, I'm not"said Layla.

"Well, can I use the computer?"

"In a minute, when I'm finished."

"What are you looking up?" asked Katie.

"Summer camps. I want to maybe go on one this year."

"Why don't you just print that page off," suggested Wolfie, behind them. "Then you can show it to Mike, and Katie can use the computer."

"Fine."

* * *

Crash had decided to go into town to cheer himself up. It was better then walking around aimlessly, anyway. As he got off the bus,he wondered what he'd do now. Maybe go to HMV ...

"Crash! Hi!" someone called, breaking into his thoughts.

"Oh, hi," he said, seeing it was Nikki from his school. She was good friends with Jackie, so also with him, Tracy and Justine. "You going shopping?"

"No, actually," said Nikki. "I'm off to do some work experience. At the army base in town. It's where my dad works, and I've always liked the sound of it, so..."

"Are you thinking of joining the army, then?"

"Don't sound so surprised!"

"I'm not, I -"

"Whatever. I'm used to it. My dad doesn't think it's an acceptable career for girls, either, but what the hell..."

"It's not that," said Crash, embarrassed. "What sort of things do you do, anyway?" he asked, to change the subject.

"Why don't you come with me and find out," said Nikki.

Well, he thought, he had nothing better to do...

* * *

"...And this is the one I really like the sound of," said Layla to Mike. "It's an art camp, and you know, I'm not that sporty, but this just sounds really fun!"

"It does sound like a good idea," agreed Mike. "We'll just have to see if the council are prepared to pay."

"Can you write to them and ask, then?"

"Well, I'm really busy, but... look, I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks," muttered Layla, leaving the office. Katie came up to her.

"I think we need to sort things out for ourselves," she said. Layla nodded.

* * *

"So this is where my dad works," Nikki told Crash as they entered the building. "Dad, this is Crash. He goes to my school, and he was wondering what sort of things we do here."

"Hi, Crash!" said her dad, a young man wearing uniform.

"Hi," Crash said, hoping Nikki's dad wouldn't mind him being there, but luckily, he seemed pleased.

"Well," he said, "You probably know that being in the army isn't just about fighting in wars. In fact, there's a lot more to it. Why don't you take a look at some of the leaflets we have here."

Crash nodded, taking a look. And actually, he was interested. This might be just the thing for him.

* * *

" I hope either Crash or Elaine comes back soon," grumbled Layla, in the garden. " Then we can actually get some attention."

"We don't need them," said Katie.

"What? Why not?"

"Well, all we really need is money. So either we raise our own, or just persuade the council we're serious about this."

"Well, how?" Layla asked.

"I don't know," said Katie. She turned to the Wolfie, Frank, Roxy and Alice, who were still tidying up. "Anyone got any ideas?"

"Well, if you have some kind of big event, like a jumble sale or something,you could do both," said Frank.

"Yeah, but what?"

"I know!" gushed Alice. "You both want to do something creative, so... how about a craft fair?"

"A craft fair!" scoffed Roxy. "Are you actually being serious?"

"How about a cafe?" said Wolfie. "Like, just for one day, in the garden."

"We'd need permission... from the council," said Roxy.

"Not if the don't find out"

"Well, can you think of anyone here who can actually cook? Face it, Wolfie, your idea is worse than Alice's."

"Rebecca's good at baking," said Layla. "So can I."

"Yeah, but she'd never agree. Anyway, two people wouldn't be enough"

"How about a main course?" said Frank.

"This is getting stupid," Roxy said, and stalked off.

"My grandad always took me fishing, and taught me how to cook too," said Frank.

"Wolfie's really into fishing too, aren't you?" said Layla.

"Yeah," Wolfie agreed. So that's two for the main course, and two for cakes... well, if we can blackmail or pay Rebecca or something,"

"Well, I suppose it'll have to do," said Katie. "We haven't, got any better ideas, anyway."

* * *

"Where on earth have you been?" Mike demanded as Crash came back.

"I was in town," Crash said. "Sorry I didn't tell you. I bumped into Nikki... you know, Jackie's friend. She was doing work experience at the army base and I was interested so I came along. I might join up when I leave school."

"Are you sure?" Mike said, slightly bewildered. "You might want to think about it."

"Yeah, of course I will," Crash said.

"And don't go out without telling me where you're going in future," Mike continued. "I was worried."

"Yeah... sorry," said Crash, going up to his room.

* * *

Katie, Layla, Wolfie and Frank spent most of the next few days planning their cafe. They hadn't got any better ideas, though Alice still wanted a craft fair, but they had managed to get Rebecca to help, and were prepared to give the idea a try, anyway. Luckily, Mike hadn't managed to guess what they were up to, though he had wondered why Frank and Wolfie seemed to want to go fishing every day. But he didn't worry too much, because he thought it would be good for Frank to make some friends, and also for Wolfie now that Lol had left. Meanwhile, Rebecca and Layla continually got on Bouncer's nerves because they always seemed to be in the kitchen, baking cakes which they never seemed to eat, but which always disappeared.

"I don't know what you do with them," he said one day. "But you're wasting my ingredients and anyway, Mike'll go mad if you're having a midnight feast or something."

"We're not having a midnight feast," said Layla, before Rebecca could shut her up. "We're selling them,"

"Selling them?" asked Bouncer suspiciously

"Yeah, at school, right, Layla?" Rebecca said quickly. "For charity."

"_What_ charity?"

"Uh... children in need."

Well, she thought, it wasn't exactly lying.

* * *

Crash saw Nikki again a few days later. He was meeting up with Tracy, and decided to invite her along, so he could get both their opinions.

"So have you heard from Justine?" asked Tracy as they sat in the kitchen at Cam and Gary's, waiting for Nikki to arrive.

"Yeah, but not much," said Crash."Apparently she's going to college. and I think she's getting on quite well with her cousin after all that."

"Oh, that's good." Tracy said, then added tentatively, "And what about... you know... you and her?"

"Oh, that," said Crash. "I don't think she was ever that interested in me, to be honest. I don't know, she hasn't really been keeping in touch, and I'm getting the feeling that stuff on valentine's day was just to make Rebecca jealous."

"Yeah, you're probably right," said Tracy, then saw Crash's face and added, "But you never know."

"Yeah..." said Crash. "By the way, have you done something different to your hair?"

Tracy's hair was tied back, so he hadn't noticed immediately, but when he asked she pulled it loose, revealling a sleek, straight style instead of her usual curly mop.

"I was wondering if you'd notice," she laughed. "Cam's mum gave me some hair straighteners as a moving in present. To be honest, I wasn't sure about them at first, but I'm starting to like the way it looks. Different, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Suits you, though."

"When is Nikki meant to be coming, by the way?"

Crash glanced at his watch. "Any time past two, she said. I wonder where she's got to. So what do you think, anyway? Y'know, about me joining the army?"

Tracy shrugged. "I don't know, really. I mean, you should think about what you really want and all, but, if you ask me... well, us, me, Justine and Jackie. We've been like your family over the past years."

Crash nodded. "That's true."

"But now you're losing us," said Tracy. "And I reckon, everyone needs family from somewhere. And this might be your best bet at getting another one. It won't be easy, though."

"No," agreed Crash. "But what's life without challenges?"

At that moment, the door rang. Tracy went to get it, leaving Crash on his own. He thought for a moment. Tracy was right. He was losing what family he had. Everyone was moving on, and it was time for him to do so, too. He needed an adventure on his own. And he could handle the risks; he was tough, and didn't have anything to lose. But he had everything to gain.

"Hi!" said Nikki. "Sorry if I took a while. I was doing work experience again. And dad's finally agreed that I can start training for real! Isn't that great?"

"Lucky you!" said Tracy.

"So, Crash, are you still interested in joining up?" Nikki asked. "Cos Dad was asking about you."

"Yeah, I'm interested."

"Great!" Nikki grinned. "By the way, do you have anything to eat? I wouldn't ask, only I'm starving."

"No, it's fine," said Tracy. "We've got brownies. Some of the kids at the dumping ground were making them for a cafe or something, apparantly."

"Yeah," Crash said, laughing. "I had to run the whole way her; Katie was pretty cross with me for stealing them. Have one."

"Ooh, these are nice!" said Nikki, taking a bite. "Do you have the recipe?"

* * *

"I can't believe Crash just took those brownies!" Katie growled, still fuming.

"Chill out, Katie!" said Frank. "We've got plenty left."

"Yeah, get over it!" Roxy sighed. "I'm going to get the girls to teach me how to bake." She went into the kitchen, where Layla and Rebecca still were.

"No," said Rebecca before she's even opened her mouth. "For the last time, we are not teaching you to cook."

"Why not?"

"You know why not! You're rubbish at it, you never clean up your mess... and last time you left the cake you were making half finished!"

"That was to beat up that ratbag Katie!"

"Still. Now leave us alone."

Roxy left the kitchen angrily. Fine then. If they wouldn't let her join in, she'd work against them. She loved a bit of sabotage. She grinned. This "cafe" would certainly be an event to remember.

* * *

**I'll try to write the final installment of the series at the weekend, before moving on to series 2, though I might go back to this one in future. And please review and tell me who you want introduced in series 2!  
**


	3. Series 1: Episode 3

**I haven't finished this chapter yet, but since I hardly ever update this and I'm planning to continue the chapter about Tee in my other fanfiction story, I thought I'd upload what I've got. Because of this, the stuff about Alice might seem a bit lame, but it'll (hopefully) make sense once I've written the whole chapter.**

* * *

"Now," said Katie, "Under no circumstances can Mike find out about this. We want the money, right? And he'll just pocket anything, and donate it to charity."

"Come on," Layla objected. "You haven't known Mike long. He's not some kind of monster, you know."

"He would probably keep the money, though." said Rebecca. She wasn't completely sure why she'd agreed to the idea of making a dumping ground cafe, except that anything was better than a craft fair. And she could do with some extra cash.

"So. What have we got?" she asked. Over the last few days they'd been attempting to bake and store cakes. She just hoped they hadn't gone off.

"Um, cupcakes, I think ingredients for smoothies, and... one Swiss Roll. But all home baked." Layla replied.

"Is that all? What about the brownies?"

"Crash stole them, remember?" Katie said quickly.

"Not all of them!"

"Well... the rest of them... kind of... disappeared?" Katie suddenly looked incredibly sheepish.

"You ate them?!" Rebecca couldn't believe it. Actually, thinking about it, she could.

"It's fine!" Layla broke in before an argument could brew. "Just buy things from the shops."

"People will notice!"

"Not if we're careful! Just make icing and decorate stuff. Who's artistic here?"

"Well, not you!" Rebecca said scornfully. "Which will be why you suggested it."

"Crash is. So is Tracy"

"They've left, remember?"

Layla thought quickly. "What about Katie? Didn't she say she wants to be an interior designer? And then there's... Alice, and... Wolfie?"

"Fine, you sort it. I'm tired of this." Rebecca got up and left. "Come find me when we've actually got somewhere."

* * *

Alice sat on her bed in the room she and Layla shared, rummaging through her jewelry. She was trying to find her good luck necklace, the one she believed was charmed by fairies. She was worried, after the horoscope she'd read in one of her weird magazines: "Be prepared for challenging times ahead of you. And beware of crowds, for in them you might just find a face from the past.". Which was something she didn't feel she could cope with. So she was trying to charm herself, making up her mind to stay away from any crowds for a while. Then she'd remembered the cafe idea. Which she couldn't avoid. And she'd realized: it must be destiny. It would happen, and there was nothing she could do about it. Except hope.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she found the necklace, and put it on quickly. But she was still worried. She needed something else. Hurriedly, she rummaged around the room, till she found a tin labelled "fairy dust" on Layla's shelf. She felt slightly defensive as she sprinkled it round the edge of the room. It wasn't like Layla to own something like this. It was Alice's thing.

Thinking this, and about the scary horoscope, she poured the whole thing onto her window sill, and was busy spreading it out when Layla opened the door.

"Alice!" she cried. "I need that, for the cafe. It's edible!"

Alice scanned the tin and realized it was, indeed, for very magical then.

"I have to go," she said, realizing it wouldn't do. She ran out, as Layla quickly scooped the dust back in the tin, hoping no one would notice not all the dust in it was fairy. It wasn't till she was heading downstairs that it occurred to her that there might have been something wrong with Alice. But she knew what the girl was like, and she didn't think a horoscope could cause too much trouble.

"I'm going to Cam's," she told Katie and Rebecca. "Tracy said she'd help me get some stuff for the cafe. Apparently she knows some great recipes."

"Really?" asked Rebecca dubiously, but Layla was gone.

* * *

"Be careful!" shouted Frank indignantly, as Alice brushed past him.

"Sorry." she said, without turning round.

"Wait, is something the matter?" Frank asked, noticing she seemed upset.

"It's nothing," Alice sighed.

"Tell me."

Alice paused, then turned to face him. "Well... I think I'll be seeing someone. At Katie's cafe."

"Who?"

"I don't know. I think... my mum."

"Well... do you want to see her?" asked Frank.

"I - I don't know. I don't think so. I mean, I haven't seen her for years. And last time I did... well."

"You know," said Frank, "Sometimes it's good to face the past. Sometimes it's the only way to move forward."

"You think?"

"Well, that's what my social worker was always saying when I went into care. But I don't think you should worry. If you see her, it means she's changed, right?"

"You're right," said Alice. "It's just, I don't know what she'd be like."

"Well, there's only one way to find out" Frank said, going to his room. Alice went downstairs, comforted slightly. But she kept on her good luck necklace.

* * *

**I've kind of run out of ideas for this episode, so I'm going to fill the rest in later (if anyone has any ideas, feel free to review and tell me, of course!), but for now I'll do some of the next year. I might not do this all in chronological order, so check what series each episode is. I'll put it in the right order when I've finished the whole thing.**


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